This was a tough night to narrow the list to three, some guys with huge games miss the cut — Russell Westbrook with 36 points and a near triple-double, Nikola Vucevic with 21 points and 21 boards for the Magic. But there was a key theme to go with for the night — current or former All-Stars who led they team to a win.

Third Star: Chris Kaman (26 points, 11 rebounds)

Remember, he was a 2010 All-Star — and on Sunday night he played like it. Dallas ran away from Portland in the Rose Garden in the first half behind 14 points from Kaman — he single handedly outscored the Blazers when he left the game in the first 14-11. He has had an up and down (with a lot more down) season in Dallas and this was clear and away his best game in a Dallas uniform.

Second Star: Chris Paul(24 points, 12 assists)

The Lakers hung around much of the game playing like the desperate team they are, but the Clippers got the win because Chris Paul figured out how to start shredding the Lakers defense and they couldn’t stop him. He would come off the high pick and had space to make decisions — knock down the midrange, drive into the lane for a floater or a dish, the Lakers just gave him space and CP3 uses that room better than anyone in the NBA. It was another masterful performance.

First Star: Carmelo Anthony(36 points, 12 rebounds)

It wasn’t just the 12 rebounds — it was that nine of them were offensive rebounds. Second chances were key to the Knicks and ‘Melo was a big part of it. More than once in the fourth quarter he would drive baseline, get to the rim, miss a contested shot but get his own board and put it back in. Anthony was at the hard of the Knicks fourth-quarter push — they had led by a dozen earlier but when the Thunder came back at home and took a fourth quarter lead, you wondered if the Knicks could match the run. They did with an 11-2 run of their own that included a whole lot of Carmelo. And offensive rebounds.

In fact, in Saturday’s dunk contest, he didn’t look like a dunker at all.

The Pacers star missed all three attempts of his first dunk, and a Black Panther mask was by far the biggest draw of his second. Oladipo was eliminated after the first round.

Maybe Dennis Smith Jr. wasn’t the only eliminated dunker who left something in his bag. This Oladipo dunk – 180 degrees, throwing ball off the backboard with his left hand while in mid-air, dunking with his right hand – while preparing in Los Angeles was awesome.

A statement released Wednesday by the NFL and NBA clubs says their 90-year-old owner is resting comfortably at Ochsner Medical Center, a hospital which also serves as a major sponsor and which owns naming rights to the teams’ training headquarters.

Benson has owned the New Orleans Saints since 1985 and bought the New Orleans Pelicans in 2012.

In recent years, Benson has overhauled his estate plan so that his third wife, Gayle, would be first in line to inherit control of the two major professional franchises.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said he’d be surprised if Kawhi Leonard played again this season, a stark reversal from just a month ago. Back then, even while announcing Leonard was out indefinitely with a quad injury, the San Antonio coach said Leonard wouldn’t miss the rest of the season.

After spending 10 days before the All-Star break in New York consulting with a specialist to gather a second opinion on his right quad injury, All-NBA forward Kawhi Leonard bears the burden of determining when he’s prepared to play again, sources told ESPN.

Leonard has been medically cleared to return from the right quad tendinopathy injury, but since shutting down a nine-game return to the Spurs that ended Jan. 13, he has elected against returning to the active roster, sources said.

The uncertainty surrounding this season — and Leonard’s future which could include free agency in the summer of 2019 — has inspired a palpable stress around the organization, league sources said.

At first glance, this sounds like Derrick Rose five years ago. Even after he was cleared to play following a torn ACL, the then-Bulls star remained mysterious about when he’d suit up. His confidence in his physical abilities seemed to be a major issue, and he was never the same player since (suffering more leg injuries).

But the Spurs famously favor resting players to preserve long-term health. They seem unlikely to rush back Leonard. They might even sit players who want to play more often. And Leonard isn’t Rose.

Still, it’s clear something is amiss in San Antonio. Maybe not amiss enough to end Leonard’s tenure there, but the longer this lingers, the more time for tension to percolate.